ECU School of Dentistry Appoints Associate Deans

Two associate deans have joined East Carolina University in the School of Dentristry.

Dr. Francis G. Serio has joined the ECU School of Dentistry as the associate dean for Clinical Affairs.

A native of New York, Serio completed his undergraduate studies at The Johns Hopkins University and received his DMD from the University of Pennsylvania. He earned his MS and certificate in periodontics at the University of Maryland, and his MBA from Millsaps College.

Serio

Serio will provide leadership and management for the School in areas related to the school’s clinical pre-doctoral and clinical residency programs. Responsibilities will also include administrative support for the facility in response to the on-going and evolving needs of modern dental students, residents, and faculty. Compliance with accreditation standards and state and federal education regulations will be another primary focus.

Serio has been in full-time academics and part-time practice since 1981. He taught at the University of Maryland and was Professor and Chairman of the Department of Periodontics and Preventive Sciences at the University of Mississippi School of Dentistry from 1993-2009.

He is founder and former director of the Dominican Dental Mission Project. Over a span of 28 years, this project provided in excess of $8.2 million of services to 53,000 of the rural poor of the Dominican Republic. In 1991, the project received the President’s Volunteer Action Award from President George H.W. Bush and in 2001, The Daily Points of Light Award from President George W. Bush. He has also been actively involved in Dentistry Overseas, a joint project between the American Dental Association and Health Volunteers Overseas, and many other international volunteer dental activities.

“Starting a new dental school is a great experience that few dental educators get, and I am equally excited that it’s here in North Carolina. Our family has vacationed in North Carolina for the past 16 years and we are so happy to finally call North Carolina our home,” said Serio.

Dr. Margaret B. Wilson has joined the ECU School of Dentistry as the associate dean for Student Affairs.

Wilson

Wilson will provide leadership and management for the school in areas related to the School’s pre-doctoral student recruitment, admissions and support programs. She will have key responsibility for attracting and retaining academically qualified students who are oriented towards a career providing dental services in underserved communities in North Carolina.

“I am honored to serve as the associate dean for student affairs for the School of Dentistry, and am committed to helping the School achieve its mission of educating dentists for the people of North Carolina,” said Wilson.

Wilson comes to ECU from the University of Maryland where she spent 20 years. She is an alumna of David Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tenn., earning a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 1977.

She attended the Medical College of Virginia School of Dentistry at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Va., where she obtained her DDS in 1981. At the University of Maryland she received her general Practice Residency Certificate in 1982, and then an MBA in 1990.